A universal remote control may be a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of remote-controlled devices. One benefit of using a universal remote is that because it can control multiple devices, a universal remote may reduce the number of remote controls a user needs to keep readily accessible to control their devices. However, universal remote controls often become out of sync with a remote-controlled device because not all of the commands were received at the remote-controlled device from the universal remote control. For example, if the universal remote control sends infrared commands, which is a common remote control method, the universal remote may require line-of-sight accessibility to the remote-controlled device. If this line-of-sight is blocked, some or all of the infrared commands may not be received by the remote-controlled device. Accordingly, if a user pushes a button on the universal remote control to perform a sequence of commands on the remote-controlled device, there is no way for the universal remote control to know if the sequence of commands was actually performed. Similarly, if a user pushes a button on the remote-controlled device itself to perform a sequence of commands (e.g. changing the input, power, volume, etc.) on the remote-controlled device, there is no way for the universal remote control to know of the state change of the remote-controlled device. When the universal remote control becomes out of sync with a remote-controlled device, a user must resynchronize the universal remote control with the remote-controlled device. But this process is time consuming and error-prone.
In addition, universal remote controls have several other problems. First, universal remote controls may require a user to know the devices they want to control. For example, to program universal remote controls, a user may need to know the exact make and model numbers of the devices they wish to control. Second, universal remote controls typically need to have the command set that correlates to those devices. In other words, the universal remote control would need the ability to actually be able to control the devices a user has, which may not always be possible if the user has a newer device and the universal remote control is not updateable. Finally, universal remote control programming may be complicated. Typically, to program such controls users may consult tables in the user manuals for the controls that correlate programming codes to makes and model numbers of devices. This programming process is often very complicated for the user, especially if sequences of commands are necessary to perform the programming process.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.